The Windiest Planet Dark, cold and whipped by supersonic winds, Neptune is the last of the hydrogen and helium gas giants in our solar system. More than 30 times as far from the sun as Earth, the planet takes almost 165 Earth years to orbit our sun. In 2011 Neptune completed its first orbit since its discovery in 1846.

Planetary Seasons
Planetary seasons are caused by two factors: axial tilt and variable distance from the sun (orbital eccentricity).

Hubble Finds New Neptune Moon
While analyzing Neptune photos taken by the Hubble Space Telescope, astronomer Mark Showalter of the SETI Institute noticed an extra white dot about 65,400 miles from Neptune, located between the orbits of the moons Larissa and Proteus.

Planetary Seasons
Planetary seasons are caused by two factors: axial tilt and variable distance from the sun (orbital eccentricity).

Hubble Finds New Neptune Moon
While analyzing Neptune photos taken by the Hubble Space Telescope, astronomer Mark Showalter of the SETI Institute noticed an extra white dot about 65,400 miles from Neptune, located between the orbits of the moons Larissa and Proteus.